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CONTENTS

3 March 2012 FOREST FLOWER


Main Article
Become an Empty Page
A Method to Move from the Physical to the Source 4
Musings
Does Gender Matter?
Sadhguru on the Question of Priests or Priestesses 7
Of the Sun and the Moon 9
Go by the Stars or a Plan?
Sadhguru on Vedic Astrology 10
Leela Series
The path of the playful Part XXX:
Krishna Blue by Nature / Krishna and the Women 1 12
News & Happenings
Isha Serpent in Action 14
Isha Arogya Center Launched in Chennai 14
Mumbai Marathon 2012
Volunteers Raise 60 Lakhs for Isha Vidhya! 15
Project Green Hands:
600,000 Saplings Planted on a Single Day 16
Tradition and Social Responsibility
Sadhguru Visits the Suttur Jathra 17
Sadhguru Spot
Devi is a Living Entity / The Two-Year Anniversary of Devi 18
Upcoming Programs and Events
Isha Yoga Program Highlights 20

Isha Recipes For Healthy Living
This Month: Green Dosa 21
Zen Speaks: Returning Empty-Handed 23
Every creature, however small or big, is continually
in a relationship with the rest of the creation and
also with the source of creation. If there is already
an inevitable relationship, what is there to do? Just
change the quality of the relationship. If you sit
there on the foor, is the earth poking you or are you
glad that it is letting you sit there? The way you hold
the relationship makes a big difference: You can sit
there either cursing this planet because it is poking
you, or you can sit there blessing this planet because
it gives you a piece of place to sit down upon.
A relationship can be physical, mental, emotional, or
it could be of the very life force. If it is just physical,
you will know certain aspects. If it is mental, you
will know certain other aspects. If it is emotional,
you will know different kinds of aspects. Do you see
that from your birth to now, many things about your
body, your mind, and your emotions have changed
and are continuing to change?
When you lose your body one day, when your
physicality is not manifest anymore the way it is
now, when you go into a state of rarefed physicality
where the etheric content becomes more dominant
than the physical content, then you will experience
life not by touch, not by taste, not by vision but
only by smell. Even now, if you just reduce your
mental content, if you hire a sanitation company for
yourself and somebody clears out all the muck from
your head, your sense of smell will become very
dominant.
In India, you have always been told that if you offer
a fower or food to any deity, you should never smell
it. Because a deity is not a physical form; a deity is
a subtler form, and that subtler form experiences
everything by smell. Most creatures in the forest,
who do not have as many sanitation problems in
their heads as you have, also know everything by
smell. One of many reasons why a cobra is held
sacred is because he knows things not by hearing,
not by seeing, but just by the chemistry of it. A
dog, a tiger, or an elephant would know by smell. A
snake does not even have to smell.
If you go by smell, there is a little problem it all
depends on how you are positioned to receive the
smell. But a snake is very, very sensitive to what
kind of chemistry you create within your own
system. If you are in a certain way and you pick
him up, he is okay. If you just generate something
else in your mind and touch him, he will come at
you. If the king cobra that was here a few weeks ago
gets to bite you, you have just about eight to twelve
minutes. He will not even give you enough time to
go to the hospital. In six minutes, you will be on
the ground. In ten, twelve minutes, you are gone.
That is pretty effcient, isnt it so? And you will get
pre-digested. Do you know that the cobras venom
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BecoMe an EMpty Page
A Method to Move fom the Physical to the Source
SADHGURU
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
is actually a digestive fuid? A cobra catches his
prey and holds it in his mouth for a period of time
without swallowing it because he has injected the
venom and is waiting for the digestion to happen in
the prey itself. When he feels the prey is suffciently
digested, he will swallow it.
You are also supposed to do that. You also have
a certain kind of venom which we call saliva. If
you chew your food suffciently, it is already pre-
digested, or at least partially digested. Fifty percent
of the digestion should happen in your mouth; only
then you swallow the food, and be healthy.
A cobra is very sensitive because he is more of an
etheric being than a physical being. His relationship
with the ether is so strong that his ability to know
is very strong too. We have talked about this
before whatever may be happening in some other
part of the world, a cobra which is in this mountain
clearly knows it before it happens, because a cobra
is more in the ether than in the physicality.
In a way, the whole spiritual process is just this:
changing your relationship with the existence from
being just of body, mind, and emotion, to a subtler
dimension of existence. All knowing comes just
from this. I was just writing a poem about somebody.
It is like this:
A scoundrel is knowledgeable
A fool will know
But a sage is an empty page
Because he is an empty page, just about anything
can be grasped. If anything was written on a page
and you wrote something else upon it, there would
be confusion. Karma means just this: you are not an
empty page; too much is written already. Whatever
you write upon a page which is already full of stuff,
it is going to be wasted.
All the sadhana is not to become knowledgeable but
to become an empty page so that just about anything
can be projected. If you become an empty page and
remain one, you can project life upon it. This is like
at the local theater, any number of movies have been
played upon the screen, but that does not distort
anything because light is a subtle thing. If they had
used a crayon or a paint brush, those screens would
have had to be discarded a long time ago.
So this is about moving your relationship with
the existence from that which is physical, mental,
and emotional, which will leave marks, which
will never allow you to have an empty page, to an
etheric state where your relationship is far deeper,
much more profound but subtle in such a way that
you can play any kind of cinema on it. The moment
the cinema is over, there is not a trace left on the
screen. If the previous movie only left a little bit of
traces upon the screen, the next movie would be a
disaster. That is all that is happening with you right
now. The previous movies have left impressions.
Now, the current movie is a disaster.
So, you just have to change your relationship with
the existence and with the Creator. How? You need
to understand, this is not a choice relationship.
Whichever way, you have a relationship; you cannot
help it. Can you sit here without being connected
with any aspect of creation or the Creator? You may
be unaware of it, but there is no way unless you
transcend everything that is physical absolutely.
If there is an absolute transcendence, then yes;
otherwise, whichever way you sit, stand, or sleep,
you are in a relationship. So, you dont even have to
try to hold a relationship, it is anyway there. Half of
the problem solved. The other half is very simple:
Dont make too much of yourself. I am not giving
you a teaching I am only giving you a method.
Do you know the distinction between the two? A
teaching can be analyzed and understood. A method
cannot be analyzed or understood, it has to be
simply used.
It does not take much effort. Just constantly see
how small a creature you are in this existence. Dont
compare yourself with somebody who is three and
half feet tall. You are always doing this. You look at
an idiot and think you are very smart. You look at
poor people who have barely eaten and think you
are well-to-do. No, no, no. Look at the mountain and
see how small you are. Look at the sky and see how
small you are. Look at a distance in the sky and see
how poor your vision is like this you put yourself
into the right place. You dont have to appreciate
yourself; you dont have to depreciate yourself.
You dont have to lie to yourself. Just be realistic
as to who you are in this creation. Simply see what
your place in the existence is and constantly keep
reminding yourself, This is all I am a speck of
nothing in nothing.
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March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
6
Who you are, what you think of yourself does
not mean anything. If you disappear tomorrow
morning, the whole world will still be fne. This is
so for you, this is so for me, this is so for everybody.
The more they do not understand this, the more
idiotic their lives will be. The more they come to
terms with it, the more intelligently they will live.
Intelligence is not about being intellectual. There are
intellectual people and there are intelligent people.
Intellectuals are knowledgeable I already told you
who is knowledgeable [refers to the quoted poem].
Intelligence is not about knowledge. Too much
nonsense has been fed into you. Especially if you
come from western countries, they told you, God is
love. Do you know for sure? If life is bugging you,
then you will think, God is torture. If life is going
well, you will think, God is love. You dont know
whether he is love or not. You dont know whether
he is compassionate or not. You dont know all the
other nonsense that people say about him. But if
you look at every atom, every cell, every leaf, every
tree, every creature, just about everything in this
creation, one thing is clear God is super intelligent,
that is manifest. His love is not manifest.
So you dont know about his love affair but you
cannot miss his intelligence. Wherever you look,
the Creators intelligence is manifest. With all these
brains, after so many millions of years of evolution,
we cannot even put one atom together. Intelligence
is one single quality which is manifest in every
possible way in this creation. The foremost quality
of this intelligence is that it is non-discriminatory.
Discrimination comes to you because of the
intellect. Intelligence is non-discriminatory. You
need to become non-discriminatory, in the sense,
it does not matter if somebody is big, somebody is
small you look at them the same way. Somebody is
a man, somebody is a woman you look at them the
same way. Somebody is God, somebody is a demon
you look at them the same way. This is a mountain,
that is a molehill you look at them the same way.
If you constantly practice this, if you see everything
as the same thing, if you become a nondiscriminatory
intelligence, if you bow down to whatever you
see that is devotion. To God you do the same
thing; to somebody else you do the same thing; if
you see a cow, you also do the same thing; if you see
a tree, you also do the same thing because devotion
is a non-discriminatory intelligence. If you become
a non-discriminatory intelligence, you are getting
closer and closer to the Creator act. If you are a
discriminatory intelligence, then you are moving
further and further away from that which is the
Creator and you are becoming nothing but one little
fragment of creation. As just a speck of creation,
you are really nothing and not worth anything.
In this vast cosmos, if the whole planet disappears
tomorrow, it means nothing; there will be no issue
anywhere in the creation. It is that insignifcant.
So once you are a discriminatory intelligence, you
reduce yourself to nothing but a speck of creation a
speck which is bloated within itself, thinking it is so
big. If you become a non-discriminatory intelligence,
you are moving closer to that which is the source
of creation. You know, there are fve layers of the
body the physical body, the mental body, the
energy body, the etheric body, and the bliss body.
You naturally move from physical to mental, from
mental to pranic, from pranic to etheric, and then to
that which is the source of creation. When you come
to the etheric space, your ability to know, your ability
to perceive is greatly enhanced, because you are no
more limited by the physical manifestations. Time
and space are essentially physical manifestations. If
there was no physicality, time and space would not
mean anything. Only because there is physicality,
there is a beginning and an ending. Because there
is a beginning and an ending, in between, there
are measurements of time. If there was no physical
existence, there would be no such thing as big and
small. If there was no such thing as big and small,
there would be no such thing as space.
These two realities of time and space are what
humanity experiences as life and death. Only
because there is time, there is life and there is death.
Only because there is space, there is something
called you and me, this and that. So changing the
relationship means becoming a non-discriminatory
intelligence, just simply being.
Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
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Q: Sadhguru, most temples in India are maintained
by male priests, only very few by priestesses, like
the Linga Bhairavi Temple. Why so?
Sadhguru: Why are men maintaining all the
temples? Maybe the women are maintaining the
men. [Laughter and applause] Traditions evolved at
a certain time in history. Today, so many women
are sitting here; many of you have travelled long
distances. All of you are here simply because of the
development of technology, not because the world
has become liberal. Dont have such silly ideas
the world has not become liberal. It is just that
technology has leveled the feld to some extent.
So the traditions were evolved in a certain situation
and a certain context. The context of those days
was defnitely such that all the activities outside
the home were most suitable for a man, not for
a woman. There was a time when, if you had big
muscles, you were a big man. Today, if you have
really big muscles, people will think you look like
a brute because physical strength is not of so much
value in todays world. Only because of that, today
men and women are on reasonably even keel;
otherwise this would not be possible.
That is one aspect. There are other dimensions to
it. In this country, there was no home without a
little shrine, and these private shrines were always
maintained by women. Only the public temples
were maintained by men because they were more
suitable to manage the public. So in that sense, more
temples were managed and maintained by women
than by men, and it is still so.
Another aspect is what type of shrine it is. There
are certain shrines where we would defnitely not
want women to be there. There are certain other
shrines where we would not want men to be there.
It depends upon how the shrines are consecrated
and for what purpose. Based on this, certain
traditions were created. Is it factually wrong that
men and women are different? They are defnitely
different. But the problem with human beings
is, every difference is made into a discriminatory
process. Every society invents different levels of
discrimination based on color, gender, caste, creed,
or whatever. Based on all kinds of nonsense, people
always fnd ways to make themselves superior and
somebody else inferior.
The question who maintains a temple is not about
superiority and inferiority it is a question of
suitability. For different kinds of jobs, different
kinds of people are suitable; accordingly it is done.
Dhyanalinga could be maintained by anybody
because he does not need any maintenance. All you
are doing is gate-keeping. You are only managing
the people; it does not involve anything else.
Anybody who is a good manager man, woman,
or neuter could manage the Dhyanalinga Temple.
But the Devi is different; she needs maintenance. If
you dont pay attention to her, she will be different.
We dont want to see her angry because when she
is angry, I would not want to be there. She will not
Does Gender Matter?
Sadhguru on the Question
of Priests or Priestesses
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
88
get angry in the next few hundred years. But after
that, if somebody does not treat her well, she may
get angry. So I am in the process of creating certain
safety mechanisms right now, just in case after
hundred, two hundred, or three hundred years,
some idiot does not treat her well and she gets angry.
We dont want her to go around and do destruction.
So another mechanism is being created. This is the
problem with life. You have heard the story of a
sanyasi because there was no food, he got himself
a cow. Now somebody told him, How will you do
this? Throughout the day, you are taking care of the
cow. You cannot meditate. Get married. So he got
married; children came. Because children came, he
had to buy land to grow food. Because he bought
the land, he needed money and he started a small
business on the side and then... you know the whole
business. So, once you bring her [Devi], you have to
create all the other things for her. He [Dhyanalinga]
is not like that; we could have just left him. Keep the
place clean, sit and meditate; there is nothing to do.
After thousand years, he will still be the same.
Because the Devi is of a certain nature, it is best that
this temple is managed by women, but not necessarily
so. It is possible to produce men who can manage it
better than the women. It is not the gender, it is the
quality. Certain qualities come much more easily to
women; certain other qualities come much more
easily to men. But this is not a fxed ratio. There
may be some women who are very good at things
that usually a man can do well. There are some men
who are very good at certain things that are usually
considered feminine. Right now, we are bringing
up boys and girls without any distinction, but if I
get a bicycle here, give them a spanner set and tell
them, Dismantle this bicycle and put it together,
probably a boy will do it quicker and better than
a girl, but not necessarily. But if I give them a pile
of fowers and ask them to make a garland, most
probably, the girls will do it quicker and better than
the boys not necessarily but probably.
When you work with the world, you are not
working with certainties; you are always working
with probabilities. All traditions and cultures were
created based on the larger probability, not on
certainties. So when we say, Let men do this; let
women do that, it is not a certainty, it is a probability
that if you give this kind of work to men, they will
do it better; if you give that kind of work to women,
they will do it better. It is only a small tilt; it is not
an absolute factor. But that little tilt makes a lot of
difference. If the planet was spinning straight on its
axis all the time, throughout the year, it would be
the same season. Because of a little tilt, how many
things are happening! So when we say men and
women, we are talking about that little tilt; to make
use of that tilt because life is always working with
probabilities, not with certainties.
If I look at somebody and I see certain qualities,
I may say, There is a spiritual possibility in this
person. Lets do something. Doing this may produce
results with this person. This is not a certainty, it is
a probability. If we see a mango seed and say, This
can produce a lot of sweetness. Lets plant it, it is a
probability, not a certainty. There are no certainties
in your physical existence. Everything is only a
probability. If you are skillful, you can make what
is probable into a reality. So, the Linga Bhairavi
Temple is right now best managed by women, but
we can easily train men to do that. Probably they
will need a little more training than women, but
that is not true for all men. I have already identifed
a few men who would do the job better than the
women, but we thought it is nice that the Devi is in
the company of women, and I also get good marks
from all of you... [Laughter] The energy, the very
design of the temple, everything is feminine, so we
thought, it is best to keep it all feminine. If I choose
one man today and put him there, tomorrow,
another man may come who may stick out because
he is too masculine. So just to avoid that, we thought
since the whole ambience is feminine, it is best that
those who take care of her are also feminine.
Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
99
Of the sun and the moon, who is more
important? Of course the sun says reason,
but the moon-faced dreamer ponders and sings
praise of the moon. What a contest between the
fiery source of light and the waxing and waning
nightly delight. Thus arises the grosser question,
Who is superior, the man or the woman?
Then a mind lost in logical barrenness would
come up with this question that is senseless
upon assumed elevation of religious loft, Of
creation and Creator, which is paramount?
In this either/or, you can know neither this
nor that. The Creator chose to make everything
the way it is everything absolutely in embrace
with everything else. A mind which has chosen
to fragment, a mind which has chosen to break
the Creators will, a mind which attempts to
break this unity of existence, this mind is the
only wall between ignorance and enlightenment.
Sadhguru
Of the Sun and the Moon
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
10
Go by the Stars
or a Plan?
Sadhguru on Vedic Astrology
Questioner: I have studied Vedic astrology and I
am wondering, are we defned by the stars, or by
intention and mind, or by the self?
Sadhguru: How did you come from Down Under?
Did you come riding a star, a kangaroo or did you
take a plane?
Questioner: I took a plane.
Sadhguru: Thats good. Dont ride the stars, okay?
Even a kangaroo is more reliable.
So, Vedic astrology You need to understand, India
is not just about the Vedas or Vedic culture. In fact,
in this part of the country [South India], they dont
ascribe to the Vedas. The person who compiled the
four Vedas, a sage named Vyasa his father was an
Aryan and his mother was a Dravidian turned out
very dark and stocky. In spite of that, in this part of
the country, people dont like the Vedas because of
the Aryan invasion that started eight thousand years
ago and lasted for over two to three thousand years.
So even though it was a few thousand years ago, we
have not forgotten you know the Indian memory
is long. We still see them as invaders they came
and conquered us, they beat us down, they sent us
out of our lands. It has not been forgotten because
this is not a culture which lives by the written word.
It is a culture which lives by the spoken word. So
from generation to generation, they made sure the
next generation hears about the stories. Only now
we have shifted from the spoken word to the written
word. Probably by the next generation, nobody
will know that we were invaded by Aryans eight
thousand years ago, unless they pick up ancient
history and read it, which they may not because
these days, people are not capable of reading more
than forty characters. They cannot read ancient
history. It has too many words.
Dravidian culture never went for astrology by
looking at the stars; they made predictions by
looking at people. Here we have what is called Nadi
Joshyam. But the Aryan culture came with astrology.
Astrology is an interpretation of astronomy. If you
try to interpret something, invariably you miss a lot
of points. So it is a mis-interpretation. Because you
missed a lot of things.
The reason why the Aryan culture looked at the
stars so much is, they were nomadic. They were
always travelling. Since there were no roads, they
needed to fgure out which is north, which is south,
which is east, which is west. When the sun was
up, they knew. Once the sun set, there was really
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
11
nothing except fre and stars. So the Aryan culture
revolved around fre and the stars. Even today, if
people in India want to get married or do anything
auspicious, they go around fre. Because nomadic
cultures lived by fre and stars. Fire gave you light,
heat, and protection from wild animals. The stars
told you approximately which way to go. Slowly,
observing the stars, they fgured which way to
travel. They kept looking up and their knowledge of
the stars increased. Interpretations started, and they
developed a certain mastery and knowledge about
the stars.
The indigenous people of this land did not look
up. They always saw the earth as their mother and
paid attention to her. Because they looked at the
earth, they developed agriculture. Before anybody
on the planet could think of agriculture, this part
of the world already had agriculture. That means,
they had food growing in one place. They did not
have to chase anything. They did not have to go
around picking something. They knew how to reap
from the earth. Once they knew how to reap from
the earth, they stayed in the same place. They were
not travelling. Because they were not travelling,
they started building homes; because they started
building homes, they started singing; because they
built homes and they had to count how many bags
of corn, how many bags of rice they had grown, they
started arithmetic. Mathematics, music, aesthetics,
agriculture, and the spiritual process developed in
this culture because they paid attention to the earth.
These are two different kinds of cultures, even in
todays world: One is always looking up, not at the
stars anymore, but at the one and only God up there.
The other one is look down. The looking-down
cultures live more sensibly because they consider
the Mother Earth as God, so they walk a little more
gently on the planet.
Anyway, the choice is this: Either you try to live
your life by predictions, or you have the capability
to make a plan and fulfll the plan. All those minds
which are incapable of a plan will look for a
prediction. The stars that you see in the sky are far
away, so very far away that they have nothing to
do with you. Just one star has a big infuence upon
you the Sun. And its satellite, the Moon, also has
some infuence upon you. This planet [Earth] has
an even greater infuence upon you. But above all,
what is within you has the biggest infuence upon
you. All those who are incapable of committing
themselves to a plan and fulflling it, want a
prediction. The advantage with predictions is, you
can keep changing them. But if a plan has to work,
you have to pay enormous attention in creating
one; then you have to stick to it. Prediction means,
you can keep shifting.
For all the scattered brains, prediction always comes
in very handy because they can shift. You must read
the daily star sign prediction in the newspaper. I read
all the twelve [laughter], because they are shuffing
it. What was mine yesterday will be yours tomorrow.
They know there are a bunch of idiots who will buy
a newspaper just for this purpose. The whole deal is
quite smart. And people just need that. If three lines
in the newspaper say, Today, you are going to meet
somebody nice, whoever you meet, you will think,
Oh, maybe this is the nice person; maybe that is the
nice person. Yes, they are. You have been missing
it, and invariably you will end up with a not so nice
person. When you live by prediction, if it works,
you will be bewildered. If it does not work, you will
be depressed. Whichever way, you will suffer. If we
make a prediction by looking at a human being, it
is not really a prediction. It is a calculation. It is not
absolute, but arithmetically, it will be correct. And
if you are just one more number on the planet, it
will be absolutely correct. If you are more than a
number, then we cannot predict what will happen.
I only hope all predictions go wrong for you. That
means your life is happening wonderfully. Otherwise
you are going by the script that was written by some
fool. In India, for twenty-fve rupees, or ffty cents,
they will write your life. Let your life not be so
bad. It does not matter what the hell happens. Let
something other than the prediction happen to you.
Is that okay? May your predictions and dreams not
come true. [Laughter] Because a prediction is just a
compromised dream.
Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
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Krishna Blue by Nature
Q: Why is Krishna always depicted as blue?
Sadhguru: Why blue? In your visual perception,
three colors are most dominant red, green, and
blue. There are so many other colors which human
beings normally do not see because the color
cones in your eyes mainly recognize red, blue, and
green. Different religions in the world have chosen
different colors some have chosen green, some
have chosen orange or red, and some blue.
In terms of ones evolution, there are various hues
that ones aura can take. When people who are
sensitive to such things saw me about 12, 13 years
ago [1993 or 1994], they always talked about me
being orange or on the verge of magenta. But these
days [at the time of the Leela program in 2006],
people always speak about me being blue. These
are two different basic dimensions that one can
take on by choice. If we make the Ajna
1
very
important in our sadhana, then orange will be the
dominant color. That is the color of renunciation,
the color of austerity, asceticism, kriya. Blue is the
color of all-inclusiveness. You will see that in the
existence, anything that is vast and beyond your
perception generally tends to be blue, whether it
is the ocean or the sky. Anything which is larger
than your perception tends to be blue because blue
is the basis of all-inclusiveness.
You know, Krishna is supposed to be blue-bodied.
This blueness need not necessarily mean his skin
color was blue. Maybe he was dark-skinned,
but people who were aware saw the blueness
of his energy, so they described him as blue. In
all descriptions about Krishnas nature, blue is a
common feature, because his all-inclusiveness
is one thing that nobody could deny. There are
many disputes about who he was and what he
was, but nobody could deny that his nature was
all-inclusive.
Because his energy or the outermost ring of his
aura was blue, he was simply irresistibly attractive,
not because of the shape of the nose or the eyes
or whatever. There are any number of people with
good noses, good eyes, and good bodies but they
do not exude the same level of attraction. It is the
blueness of ones aura which suddenly makes a
person irresistibly attractive. They say Krishna was
visibly blue, but that is 3000 years of lore.
This blueness, this sense of all-inclusiveness in
him was such that even people who were sworn
enemies of his sat with him and unwittingly gave
in to him. He was able to effortlessly turn around
even people who abused him and plotted to kill
him any number of times. There are various other
aspects to him but this blue nature constantly
assisted him in everything that he did; he just
became irresistible. Whether man or woman,
people shamelessly fell in love with him and could
not take their eyes off of him. Of course, women
went a step further Men have this unfortunate
problem that it is very diffcult for them to express
their love. A man has to work up his whole system
to say one word. Krishna was not made like that,
he freely expressed whatever, nor do I have any
problem. [Laughter] But generally, the nature
of the masculine is such, if the emotion of love
arises within him, he will do funny, stupid things.
When the emotion of love arises in the feminine, a
woman becomes most beautiful. But the masculine
becomes awkward and uncomfortable with love.
He is good with action. He does not want to love,
he wants to make love. [Laughter]
Leela Series
The path of the playful
Part XXX
1
The sixth primary chakra or energy center in the human system, located between the eyebrows
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
Krishna and the Women 1
There were many women in Krishnas life. All of
them were head over heels with him. We cannot
go into all that, so we will just look at a few
magnifcent ones, a few woman devotees, but they
did not call themselves devotees. They were his
lovers, starting with Yashodha, his foster mother.
She was deeply in love with the boy not just as
her son much more than that. Even when he
was just an infant, it was all about the beautiful
child that she had. But he grew too rapidly; his
growth was phenomenal. No mother can adjust
her motherhood to that kind of growth, so her
motherhood disappeared somewhere by the time
he was fve or six. After that, she could not really
be his mother, she became more like his lover; she
just loved him.
Yashodhas relationship with Krishna grew in such
a way that she also became one of the Gopis
2
. She
was also part of the Ras
3
. She did not like Radhe
because she thought this girl was too forward,
whatever that meant. Radhe did not have the
normal demeanor that was expected of a village
girl. She was a little too outgoing. Yashodha felt
this girl was hiacking her wonderful son, but she
could not help joining the Ras conducted by Radhe
after Krishna left.
Krishna never went back, not even to see his
mother. Many times, he was right across the river
in Mathura, but he did not go back to Vrindavan
because they had seen him as an absolutely
carefree cowherd boy and he did not want to
destroy their dream. He did not want to go there
as the missionary that he had become. Now that
he had the role of bringing dharma to the world,
he had to do many things that would have left
them heartbroken, had they seen him like that.
They were happy and fne the way they were. So
Yashodha also became a Gopi along with Radhe
because Krishna was no more her son. The blue
did its magic with her too.
Putana, who had been sent by Kamsa to kill all the
children born in that month, had ruthlessly gone
about murdering many just born infants. Once
she located Krishna, she transformed herself with
her magical powers into an extremely attractive
woman. When she walked into the house with
a royal bearing, people were simply amazed at
her. She told them she wanted to take the child
in her arms. She took the child, walked away,
and sat outside. She had smeared her breasts with
poison and was going to pretend that she wanted
to feed the child. In those times in this country,
any woman who could nurse the child could do
so, not necessarily only the biological mother. It
was considered as a great offering to the child.
Since there was no contraception, most young
woman were in a position to do that. Feeding
each others children was not a big taboo like it
is today where the child has to drink only its
biological mothers milk.
So Putana had come to kill Krishna with her
poisoned breast. But when she looked at him, the
blue magic got her. She was so deeply drawn to
the child that suddenly her maternal instincts rose
within her. She did not want to poison the child
anymore she really wanted to give herself to
the child. She said within herself, I have come
to fulfll Kamsas orders to kill you. My breast is
poisoned but my heart is longing for you to take
not just my milk but my life too. It is my fortune
that I can feed you. So with extreme love but still
with a poisoned breast, she fed the child. Krishna
just sucked the life out of her. Right there, she fell
dead with a big smile on her face. The last thought
on her mind was, My life is being sucked away by
the Lord himself. What more do I want?
So the assassin who had come to kill Krishna got
entangled in the blue magic and fell in love with
him within a few minutes of being with him. This
was the impact that he had on people.
To be continued
2
Cowherd girls
2
Legendary ecstatic nightly dance of the young Krishna with the Gopis of Vrindawan
13 March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
14
Isha Serpent in Action
Isha Serpent is a service-oriented branch of Isha
Foundation, which was launched with Sadhgurus
blessings after the Adiyogi Alayam consecration.
Having been involved in rescuing snakes for many
years, Isha residents saw the need to establish a
formal branch to deal with the requests. With the
constant expansion of human habitation, contact
between snakes and humans has seen a steady
increase in the last few years. Apart from bringing
the snakes to safety, Isha Serpent also conducts
awareness drives to educate people on how to deal
with snakes. Typically shy of humans, most snakes
are non-poisonous and are no threat to humans, but
are many times killed by people out of fear. Even
poisonous snakes do not pose a danger if one knows
a few guidelines about how to handle them. With
this goal in mind, our snake enthusiasts have been
making headway towards solving this problem,
which is especially common in rural areas.
Just before New Years Day, Isha Serpent got its frst
big job to rescue a 13-foot long king cobra! Spotted
at a farm near the Kerala border, it triggered a great
deal of panic in the area. People tried to scare the
snake away, which then hid in a rat hole. A local
NGO called B. Nirmal from Isha Serpent, who went
to handle the matter. By widening the hole where
the snake was hiding, Nirmal and other volunteers
were able to remove the snake without harming it.
The whole operation took over three hours, after
which the king cobra was transported to a more
ideal habitat in a reserve forest. The incident was
covered in the local section of all major newspapers.
Isha Arogya Center
Launched in Chennai
In a promising start to a healthy new year,
Isha Arogyas center for holistic health care at
Adambakkam, Chennai, was inaugurated in the
presence of music director and singer Gangai Amaran
and other prominent guests on 1 January 2012. The
center offers complete healthcare services utilizing
a combination of allopathic, Siddha, Ayurveda, and
Yoga & Naturopathy health systems. A team of
two doctors, one for Siddha and one for allopathic
medicine, are available for free consultation. The
facilities and features of the center include a well-
stocked pharmacy, two therapy rooms for Ayurvedic
massages and treatments, as well as specialty services
for various chronic ailments.
The center in Chennai is the second Isha Arogya
center following the frst one in Salem that was
inaugurated on 2 October 2011. Additional centers
have been planned for Trichy and Coimbatore. Isha
Arogya seeks to integrate the wisdom of traditional
Indian medical systems with modern medicine and
its technology to introduce a holistic approach to
health care that capitalizes on the strengths of
both systems.
Isha Arogya Holistic Health Center
48A, Medavakkam Main Road; Adambakkam,
Chennai; Tel. +91-9442590099
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
It was a cool Sunday morning in Mumbai. While
much of the city was still asleep, over 200 Isha
volunteers warmed up for their run for Isha Vidhya
at this years Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon
on 15 January 2012. For the fourth consecutive year,
Isha volunteers in Mumbai ran to raise funds for the
establishment and maintenance of Isha Vidhyas
rural schools. Over a period of six months leading
to the event, a determined bunch of volunteers had
been working towards raising funds not only within
their circle of friends, relatives, and colleagues, but
also approached corporate sponsors, while at the
same time training for the event. Some of them had
registered for the 6-km Dream Run, some for the
21-km half-marathon, and others attempted the
demanding 42-km full marathon.
After the hugely positive response last year, Sounds
of Isha were again invited to cheer the close to 40,000
runners at Marine Drive and they did. Public and
volunteers gathered to dance and sing along to their
tunes, and even marathon participants could be seen
pausing for a little while to joyfully dance in front
of the stage!
Since its inception in 2004, the Mumbai Marathon
has been a platform for NGOs across India to
raise awareness and funds. A total of Rs. 12 crores
(USD 2.5 million) was raised by NGOs in 2011. Last
year, Isha Education was ranked among the top 3
NGOs, based on the number of pledges raised. And
this year was no different: Thanks to many generous
donations, volunteers were able to raise over
Rs. 60 lakhs (USD 120,000) for Isha Vidhya!
We would like to acknowledge all the individuals
and companies that lent their support this year,
including the six teams who ran for Isha Vidhya
from IBM, HP, MyIris, Alok Industries, Mahendra
Brothers, and Uni-Design. Thank you for making
the 2012 Run for Isha Vidhya at the Mumbai
Marathon a great success!
MuMbai Marathon 2012
Volunteers Raise 60 Lakhs for Isha Vidhya!
15 March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
16
November 2011 FOREST FLOWER
While world leaders are stalled over the climate
crisis, Ishas Project GreenHands (PGH) is enabling
school children to take the future into their own
hands. In August 2010, PGH in collaboration
with the department of education in Tamil Nadu
launched the Green School Movement as a pilot
program in Erode district. The project mission is to
create green consciousness among school children
by involving them in sapling production and
planting. Environmental conservation is delivered
as an experience that gets deeply imprinted in each
childs mind.
Nearly 1,200 school children from 300 schools
joined hands with us to produce 2,000 saplings per
school, which adds up to a total of 600,000 saplings!
The required seeds, covers, and technical assistance
were provided by PGH. One NGC (National Green
Corps) coordinator and two students from each
school underwent a training program at the PGH
nursery in Gobichettipalayam. At the end of the
training program, the children were given 2,000
seeds and covers to raise saplings in their school.
For the past fve months, school children have been
involved in nursery activities from sowing seeds,
flling pockets, transplanting, watering, weeding, to
the distribution of saplings. R. Priyanka, a student
of Government High School, Pattimaniarampatti,
shares, My friends and I are members of the NGC
club in our school. As per the instructions given
during the training program, we flled the pockets
with sand, soil, and manure, and placed the seeds.
We continued to water the pockets for 10 days but
nothing happened. At that point, we grew scared
and started wondering if we had made a mistake.
But just two days later, the seeds started sprouting
into tiny seedlings. It was so thrilling like magic!
My teacher says we are all magicians. I want to be
part of the project next year too and grow more
saplings.
18 January 2012 marked the culmination of the
Erode Green School Movement where 600,000
saplings were planted by the school children. This
initiative has given an opportunity for PGH to
take the message of environmental conservation to
schools in some of the most remote villages in Erode.
E. Anand, the Operational Head of Project
GreenHands, shares about the upcoming plans for
the project: Through the Green School Movement,
we have been able to motivate children in Erode
and Coimbatore districts to produce nearly 1 million
saplings. This is just the start; the scope of the project
keeps expanding. Were looking at taking the project
to 10 districts of Tamil Nadu next year and planting
6 million saplings.
Our thanks to all the students, teachers, government
offcials, and volunteers who made this project a
success. We look forward to an even bigger Green
School Movement in the course of this year!
Project GreenHands:
600,000 Saplings
Planted on a
Single Day!
The Suttur Jathra is a village fair, amplifed at least
a hundred times over and completely organized and
funded by Suttur Math
1
. Or in other words, it is a fve-
day mega party thrown by Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri
Deshikendra Mahaswamii, Suttur Swamii for
short, the 23
rd
generation pontiff, in honor of
their founder Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara
Shivayogi Mahaswamii, who lived close to 1000
years ago. Large structures are erected to house tens
of thousands of people; large temporary kitchens to
feed 1.52 lakh people thrice a day run round the
clock. There is festivity all around, all night long
until 5:00 in the morning. Several hundred thousand
people visit the festival and many stay there for the
entire duration.
Sadhguru came to the Suttur Jathra as the Chief
Guest of a mass marriage ceremony on
20 January 2012 where 162 couples got married.
All expenses, dresses and gifts were sponsored by
the Suttur Math. An additional assistance of Rs.
10,000 per couple was provided by the government
of Karnataka. Shri Sadananda Gowda, Chief
Minister of Karnataka, Shri Jagadish Shettar, former
speaker of the Vidhana Sabha, and the present
rural development minister, Mrs. Sumitra Gandhi
Kulkarni, former MP, and granddaughter of Mahatma
Gandhi, and Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami,
Editor-in-Chief, Hinduism Today, were some of
the other guests. Having arrived early to the event,
Sadhguru was taken around the place he visited
the gaddige (samadhis), the temple, the massive
kitchen, and the Agri Exhibition, where close to
70 crops were grown in careful calculation and
synchronization to bear full yield during the Jathra.
Shri Jagadish Shettar pointed out that the couples
who were getting married on that day were
extremely fortunate because they were receiving
the blessing of not one, but four spiritual Gurus, a
Chief Minister, and several dignitaries. Mrs. Sumitra
Gandhi said she did not know why she was invited
as a guest for the event, but she hoped she and her
husband qualifed to be there because it was their
50
th
year of marriage! Chief Minister Gowda who
had come along with his wife exchanged garlands
with her as a symbolic gesture. Later, Sadhguru
along with Suttur Swamii and Paramacharya
Sadasivanathaswami walked around the mandap to
bless each of the 162 newly wed couples.
Tradition and Social Responsibility
Sadhguru Visits the Sutur Jathra
17
1
A multi-dimensional institution of the Veerashaiva community headquartered in Suttur, about 20 km from Mysore, Karnataka
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
Sadhguru Spot
18
Sadhguru Spot
Musings from the Master
Devi is a Living Entity
Excerpted fom Sadhguru Spot of 25 January 2012
We are nearing the completion of two years
since Devi. Since we started off with the Bhairavi
consecration in January 2010, there has been
no looking back. It has been a roller coaster of
excitement and Devi has touched the lives of a
countless number of people. Already four full-
fedged Bhairavi temples have been confrmed, and
many small ones are coming up. So, She is going
places.
The reason why many people are able to feel the
Devi temple much more than the Dhyanalinga
temple is simply because She is physically manifest.
Dhyanalinga is subtle; it takes a certain receptivity
to feel it. It is of a completely different dimension.
Devi is physically manifest She can do pleasant
things, but She can even slap you in the face. Fifty
fngers may be left on your face. So, is Devi manifest?
She very much is. Is She physically manifest? Very
much. As far as I am concerned, She is a living entity
for me and for many people.
So, What should I do to experience Devi? You
dont have to do anything. If there is not much of
you, you will feel the presence of what is not you.
If there is too much of you, you wont feel anything
anywhere. Not just here, anywhere. Devi is diffcult
to miss. But most people are like this they have
not felt their heartbeat, they have not felt their own
breath, they cannot see the full moon. If you dont
notice a mosquito biting you, your heart beating,
your breathing, if you dont notice how food behaves
within you, how will you notice Devi? There are a
few things which have manifested in some peoples
lives with Bhairavi which are very strange and,
probably, they would not want to talk about it, so I
will leave that alone, but things have happened. But
the problem with most people is they are already
imagining something.
Dont imagine anything. Imagination is not good
for experience. If you think imagination is a
substitute for your experience, it is a stupid way
to live. Imagination will feel pleasant for some
time if it goes out of control, you will go nuts. With
imagination, you can go to heaven in two minutes
and come back and you are in the same place a
little depressed because you are back. Experience is
different. Experience transforms life. I am talking
about real life experience. Physically manifest
experience. It is very much possible.
Sodevotion. It is not because you are singing
for Devi or loving Her that She will appear. She
is always there. She doesnt care whether you are
devoted or not. Your devotion has nothing to do
with Her. Your devotion has something to do with
you. If you are absolutely in devotion, nothing of
you will be left. If nothing of you is left, She will be
as strong and real as the morning sunlight. The only
thing is, for you to feel it, you must be empty. How
empty you are, that strongly you will feel it.
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
19
The Two-Year Anniversary of Devi
Excerpted fom Sadhguru Spot of 8 February 2012
Yesterdays pournami [7 February 2012] was a
celebration in grand style. It was the 15
th
anniversary
of Vijis Aradhana, the two-year anniversary of the
Linga Bhairavi consecration, and Thaipusam
1
. And
we are offering a new sadhana for women which
is being taught all over Tamil Nadu, in towns and
villages. For a certain period of time, someone can
take up this sadhana, and for a certain number of
days, chant the Stuthi
2
and do the Devi Dandam
3
.
Then a handful of grains can be kept aside for Devi
each day, and on this full moon day, these grains can
be offered at the temple. It was beautiful to see so
many come and make their offerings. The amount
of devotion overfowing from all those who took
part was absolutely incredible. Defnitely, Devi is
manifesting in miraculous ways.
So this sadhana is something we want to offer to
everybody because devotion is the sweetest way to
exist. It is the most intelligent way to live. What
this means is, it is not about devotion to Devi or
how many Devi Dandams you can do, it is about
using devotion as a way to dissolve. Once you
dissolve, once you empty yourself, Devi has no
choice but to be with you. And if Devi is with you,
I also have no choice.
Love and Grace,
Your devotion is not about Devi; your devotion
is about dissolving yourself. But without Her,
you cannot be devout. You need something, you
need somebody to be devout, so you can use Her.
Right now, everything that you see as the world
is your interpretation, it is your refection. In this
condition, there can be no devotion, there can be no
perception. What you see is not the world, not the
creation, not the Creator. To demolish this me that
has become so big, I see Bhairavi everywhere. Now,
after some time, everything is like that. If you see a
leaf, Oh, it looks like Bhairavi. If you see a fower,
It looks like Bhairavi. Dont say this to anybody,
just do this within yourself. This is a fantastic device
to lower the sense of who you are. Who you are will
just disappear over a period of time.
So, is this not stupid? An idea that works, do you call
it stupid or smart? It works, thats all. All devices are
to be used, not to be analyzed. It is not for analysis, it
is for use. If you use it, it works. If you analyze, what
is there in it? If I analyze you, what the hell is there
within you? There is really nothing. Isnt it?
Love and Grace,
1
Full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai; a day when many wonderful beings, yogis and siddhas have chosen to attain
2
A chant with 33 auspicious names of Devi
3
A certain prostration to make yourself receptive to the Devis Grace
Visit: Sadhguru.org/spot
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
Program Highlights
These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject to
change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.
Date Program Place Contact
7 - 13 March 2012 Inner Engineering
Ernakulam,
Cochin, India
+ 91 99958 21721
8 - 11 March 2012
Inner Engineering Retreat
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center
Coimbatore, India
0422-2515421
maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org
10 - 13 Mar 2012
Bhava Spandana
Program (Gents)
Residential Program
Knowledge
Excellence Centre,
Thane Dist,
Mumbai, India
9820135722, 7738116291
mumbai@ishafoundation.org
11 Mar 2012
Inner Engineering
Technologies for
Wellbeing
Talk by Sadhguru
Troxy,
London, UK
+44-7720318350
info@sadhguruinlondon.com
11 Mar 2012 Sathsang with Sadhguru
Troxy,
London, UK
+44-7788761764
programmes.uk@ishafoundation.org
14 Mar 2012
Inner Engineering
Technologies for
Wellbeing
Talk by Sadhguru
Indira Gandhi
Centre for Indian
Culture (IGCIC),
Phoenix, Mauritius
+230-2514668, +230-9736535
sadhguruinmauritius@gmail.com
14 - 20 Mar 2012 Inner Engineering
Trinity Tower
Party Hall,
Gurgaon, Delhi,
India
96500 92102, 96500 92103
delhi@ishafoundation.org
15 - 18 Mar 2012
Bhava Spandana
Program (Ladies)
Residential Program
Knowledge
Excellence Centre,
Thane Dist,
Mumbai, India
9820135722, 7738116291
mumbai@ishafoundation.org
22 - 25 Mar 2012
Inner Engineering Retreat
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center
Coimbatore, India
0422-2515421
maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org
23 - 25 Mar 2012
Inner Engineering
Conducted by Sadhguru
The Chancery
Pavilion,
Bangalore, India
9243410136, 9886036647
bangalore@ishafounation.org
31 Mar -
1 Apr 2012
Shambhavi Mahamudra
Conducted by Sadhguru
Singapore
+65-96660197
singapore@innerengineering.com
20
March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
Isha Recipes For Healthy Living
GREEN DOSA
Black gram has been cultivated in India from ancient times. The bean is boiled and eaten
whole or, after splitting, made into dal. The product sold as black lentil is usually the whole
urad bean or urad dal, while white lentil is the same lentil with the black skin removed.
The white lentil, ground into four or paste, is extensively used in South Indian culinary
preparations, such as dosa, idli, or vada.
Black gram is nutritious, is a good source of protein and is recommended for diabetics, as are
other pulses. It is also used in traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda). Extracts of black gram
have been shown to have immune-stimulatory effects.
Note: Instead of rice, you can use sprouted green gram (mung beans).
Urad Dal
METHOD OF PREPARATION
1. Wash rice and pulses and soak with fenugreek seeds in 5 to 6 cups of water for 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, wash, trim and chop the mint, coriander, ginger and chilies and grind to a
smooth paste, adding a little salt.
3. Drain the water from the rice and pulses and grind them to a smooth paste.
4. Add the herb and spice paste and sufficient water to make a dosa batter. Add salt to taste.
5. Heat tava (flat frying pan) and make thin dosas from this batter, using butter to make them
tasty and crispy.
INGREDIENTS QUANTITY
Parboiled rice 2 cups
De-husked split black gram (dhuli urad dal) cup
Split Bengal gram (chana dal) 1 teaspoon
Split pigeon peas (toor dal) 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds teaspoon
Fresh mint leaves 1 bunch
Fresh coriander leaves 1 bunch
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green chilies 4
Salt To taste
Butter cup
21 March 2012 FOREST FLOWER
22
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